Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father by Alysia Abbott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I heard Abbott on NPR (on The Moth I think) and decided I wanted to hear more of her story. Raised by a single gay father in San Francisco in the 1980's, she was well-spoken and well-adjusted, and I thought her memoir would be interesting.
Abbott's childhood reminded me of that of [a:Jeannette Walls|3275|Jeannette Walls|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1188356528p2/3275.jpg], [a:Augusten Burroughs|3058|Augusten Burroughs|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1337222509p2/3058.jpg], or [a:Alexandra Fuller|13900|Alexandra Fuller|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1330629732p2/13900.jpg]. As they grew up, they though their lives were pretty normal, but reflecting as an adult, it is obvious that some very basic needs weren't being met. This is not to say that her father was neglectful - he was attentive and involved. But he was also involved in his own building of an identity as a newly-out gay man and figuring out how that fit with being a father.
What I came away from the book with was the feeling that she loved her father, and saw him not as the father of her childhood but as a human adult. Worth a read about a unique upbringing.
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